Shoe sole provided with retractable anti-slipping means

ABSTRACT

A sole ( 6 ) for anti-slipping shoes of the type including foldaway anti-slipping elements ( 12 ) arranged in the face of the sole that will come in touch with the ground, characterized in that the anti-slipping elements to increase the adherence to the ground are secured to rigid or semirigid supporting members ( 10 ) that are hinged to the sole so as to be lifted from the same by rotation like a flag by at least 180° with respect to a symmetry axis other than the axis of hinge/lifting from the shoe sole and not parallel thereto. Each the supporting member being housed during the use of the sole in its own single recess or groove ( 8 ) arranged in the sole portions.

The present invention relates to the footwear industry and morespecifically concerns the manufacturing of soles for shoes to be usedwhere the ground is particularly slippery, for example frozen, snowy ormuddy ground.

It is well known that under such circumstances anyone can hardly stand.The danger of slipping can obviously be avoided by resorting to theknown hobnail shoes or shoes provided with particular high-adherencesoles which, however, are technical shoes with precise characteristicsof weight and strength and not compatible with the normal use of shoes.

The resort to hobnail shoes could once be avoided by applying sealskinsor the like to shoes to prevent the sole from touching the frozenground. Based on the same principle are rubber sheaths available on themarket today which have to be secured to shoes in a removable manner andcarry a number of nails or hooks on the face directed to ground.

Such solution, however, has the serious drawback of forcing the user,whenever he or she enters a habitation or leaves the road to enter abuilding, to remove the sheathes from the shoes to avoid that its nailsor hooks damage floors by somehow or other. It is self-evident that suchoperation, uncomfortable in itself, requires that user must take awaythe sheathes with him or her waiting for put them on again.

To overcome such problems, Italian Patent 1299575 in the name of thesame Applicants discloses soles provided with nails or hooks which aresecured to suitable supporting members that can be folded by 180° andhave ends hinged directly to the sole so that they can be rotated fromextracted to retracted positions to be housed into suitable speculargrooves reproducing their shapes and preferably formed in the thicknessof the tread.

Even if such known soles provide the desired increase in the adherence,they are not able to satisfy some specific requirements of the market.

A first limit of such known devices is that such folding hobnailsupporting members located both in the sole and heel portions must eachtake up a lower room than half the room taken up by the correspondingarea of shoe sole and heel portions, respectively. This results fromthat each supporting member is accommodated in one of the two speculargrooves associated thereto both in its position of use (extractedhobnails) and rest position (retracted hobnails). Such specular grooveshave to be arranged of course in the corresponding area of the shoe sole(sole or heel portions) so that the extension of the hobnail supportingmembers is limited, especially in the heel portion both for reasons ofsize and not to weaken too much the structure of the whole sole.

A second limit is that the specular grooves that are not occupied by thecorresponding folding hobnail supporting member can easily collect dirt,mould, mud, etc., which requires that the user cleans perfectly theobstructed grooves before folding the corresponding hobnail supportingmembers to be put inside them.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a shoe soleprovided with foldaway means to increase the adherence to the ground andarranged in the tread of the sole and heel portions so as to take up allof the available surface of the sole and heel portions, respectively.

A second object of the invention is to provide a shoe sole of theabove-mentioned type, wherein only one print or housing groove to beused in both modes of application is provided for each such means toincrease the adherence to the ground.

This has been accomplished according to the invention by providing ashoe sole provided at the face in touch with the ground withanti-slipping means to increase the adherence, such as a plurality ofsolid hooks or nails or a coating of high-adherence rubber material,which means are not fixed to such sole but are secured so that they canpass from an extracted position in touch with the ground to a concealedposition where they do not interfere with the roadway. According to theinvention, such means to increase the adherence to the ground aresecured to suitable solid supporting members that are hinged to the soleso as to be lifted from the same by rotation like a flag by at least180° with respect to a symmetry axis other than the axis ofhinge/lifting from the shoe sole and not parallel thereto. Each suchsupporting member at the heel and/or at the sole is housed in its ownsingle recess or groove arranged in a corresponding position in the heeland sole portions, respectively.

In a preferred embodiment the pivoting, folding supporting members havetwo opposite faces to one of which such means to increase the adherenceare secured. In a first position, the position of use, the nails or thecoating of rubber material protrude from the sole by as much as it isenough to guarantee the grip to the ground. In the second position, therest position, the nails or the rubber coating are directed to the shoesole and are housed within suitable recesses formed in correspondingpositions in the bottom of the print receiving the supporting members sothat the continuity of the shoe sole is restored without any protrusion.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be more readilyapparent from the following detailed description with reference to theaccompanying drawings that show by way of a not limited example apreferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the sole in the usual configuration;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the invention showing the supportingmember for the adherence increasing means while it is being lifted fromthe shoe sole by rotation like a flag to be then rotated by 180°° abouta symmetry axis so as to direct to the outside the face to which thenails or the high-adherence rubber material is secured;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to the preceding figure showing theinvention while such supporting member is being brought back to itsinitial position within the shoe sole, with the nails or thehigh-adherence rubber material being directed and protruding to theoutside;

FIG. 4, similar to FIG. 1, shows the shoe sole disclosed inconfiguration of use for a ground with poor adherence.

With reference to the figures, the anti-slipping shoe sole 6 accordingto the invention with foldaway hooks 12 (or areas of high-adherencerubber material) has at least a groove or print 8 on the face which willcome in touch with the roadway, such print 8 being able to receive witha clearance rigid or semirigid supporting members 10 that can be shapedin most different ways, as shown, but are characterized in that theyhave al least a symmetry axis. Such supporting members 10 carry aplurality of nails or areas of high-adherence material 12 which arepreferably of semirigid plastic material. Nails or hooks 12 areuniformly distributed all over the length thereof.

According to a peculiar feature of the invention, such supportingmembers 10 are hinged at one end of such symmetry axis about a hingemember 11 secured in a known manner to the shoe sole and having therotation axis parallel thereto. In other words, the rotation like a flagto lift supporting means 10 is caused by such hinge member 11, while the180°-folding rotation about its own symmetry axis occurs about pin Pwhich connects such supporting means pivotably to the hinge member 11that rotates with respect to sole 6.

It should be appreciated from the foregoing the practicality of theanti-slipping device of the present invention: the user has only toperform simple actions of lifting, folding, lowering supporting members10 of nails 12 to pass from a smooth sole to be used in the interior toa hobnail sole for slippery surfaces.

In the illustrated embodiment, such hinge member 11 consists of a smallarc having ends hinged to sole 6 and to which a pin P is secured. Suchpin has its longitudinal axis coincident with a symmetry axis ofsupporting member 10 which is pivotable about pin P secured to such arc11.

As already mentioned, only one print or groove 8 able to receivesupporting means 10 of nails or areas of high-adherence material 12 inboth configurations of use has the great advantage to make print 8 freeof obstructions or fillings by mould or other materials which enter therecesses of the tread, as well known.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been described above. It isevident, however, that a number of modifications can be made by thoseskilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims. For example, instead of being hingedwith respect to the sole that receives them, supporting members 10 ofnails or hooks 12 can be snap fitted so as to be removed and insertedagain after a rotation by 180° to make it visible either the faceprovided with nails or the smooth face.

1-6. (canceled)
 7. A sole (6) for anti-slipping shoes of the typecomprising foldaway anti-slipping means (12) arranged in the face of thesole that will come in touch with the ground, characterized in that saidanti-slipping means to increase the adherence to the ground are securedto semirigid supporting members (10) that are hinged to the sole so asto be lifted from the same by rotation like a flag and in that arerotating by at least 180° with respect to a their own symmetry axisother than the axis of hinge/lifting from the shoe sole and not parallelthereto, each such supporting member at the heel portion and/or at thesole portion being housed in its own single recess or groove (8)arranged in the sole-tread thickness of the heel and sole portions,respectively; said sole being provided with protusions from the groundof the sole.
 8. The sole according to the claim 7, characterized in thatsaid folding supporting members (10) have two opposite faces to one ofwhich said means (12) to increase the adherence consisting of nails or acoating of rubber material are secured, thus obtaining that in a firstposition, the position of use, said nails (12) protrude from the sole(6) by as much as it is enough to guarantee the grip to the ground,while in the second position, the rest position, the nails or the rubbercoating are directed to the shoe sole and are housed within suitablerecesses formed in corresponding positions in the bottom of the print(8) receiving the supporting members so that the continuity of the shoesole is restored without any protrusion.
 9. The sole according to claim7, characterized in that said supporting members (10) for theanti-slipping means (12) are hinged at one end of such symmetry axisabout a hinge member (11) secured in a known manner to the shoe sole andhaving the rotation axis parallel thereto, thus obtaining that therotation like a flag to lift supporting means (10) is caused by suchhinge member (11), while the 180°-folding rotation about its ownsymmetry axis occurs about pin (P) which connects such supporting meanspivotably to the hinge member (11) that rotates with respect to sole(6).
 10. The sole according to the claim 9, characterized in that saidhinge member (11) consists of a small arc having ends hinged to sole (6)and to which a pin (P) is secured, said pin having its longitudinal axiscoincident with a symmetry axis of supporting member (10) which ispivotable about pin (P) secured to such arc (11).
 11. The sole accordingto claim 7, characterized in that only one print or groove (8) receivessupporting means (10) of nails or areas of high-adherence material (12)in both “extracted” and “retracted” configurations, thus obtaining thatsaid print (8) is free of obstructions or fillings by mould or othermaterials which enter the recesses of the tread.
 12. The sole accordingto claim 7, characterized in that said supporting means (10) of nails orareas of high-adherence material (12) and the corresponding print orgroove (8) are formed both in the “sole” and the “heel” portions. 13.The sole according to claim 8, characterized in that said supportingmembers (10) for the anti-slipping means (12) are hinged at one end ofsuch symmetry axis about a hinge member (11) secured in a known mannerto the shoe sole and having the rotation axis parallel thereto, thusobtaining that the rotation like a flag to lift supporting means (10) iscaused by such hinge member (11), while the 180°-folding rotation aboutits own symmetry axis occurs about pin (P) which connects suchsupporting means pivotably to the hinge member (11) that rotates withrespect to sole (6).